Bogus job applicants rip off Florida business for a forklift and more than $1M in goods

In a heist story that sounds like it could been ripped from the latest “TV Movie of the Week” script, the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) provided a release yesterday reporting that thieves posing as a couple of guys looking for work ripped off a forklift and marine equipment from Baltec Marine in Pembroke Park, Florida. The bold burglary began with suspects “casing the joint” and ultimately making off with an estimated $1 million in equipment, according to WSVN in Miami. The manager for the business told Channel 7 News that “the perpetrators visited the business more than a dozen times between Jan. 5 and Jan. 8, taking what they could over that period.”

The Sun-Sentinel reports that all of those visits took place over the course of one weekend in early January.

Two of the suspects arrived at Baltec Marine on a Friday afternoon pretending to be job applicants. The next criminal collective came in the evening after the Pembroke Park business had closed. Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are releasing surveillance video (see below) in an effort to identify the suspects.

Over three days in January, the thieves stole a forklift and a variety of marine equipment. The suspects returned to the business a dozen times between 8:40 p.m. January 5 and 2 a.m. January 8. They broke into a rear cargo bay door and used a large box truck to whisk away the property.

Surveillance video shows the two suspects who pretended to be applicants walking through the warehouse. Both are described as heavyset men. One man was wearing a royal blue long sleeve shirt, jeans and a yellow baseball hat. The other suspect was wearing jeans, a burgundy cap and a striped white and burgundy long sleeve shirt. ~ per BSO

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Liz Handras at 954-985-1953 Ext. 224. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or online at browardcrimestoppers.org. Anonymous tips that lead to an arrest are eligible for a reward of up to $3,000.

The surveillance video released by the Broward Sheriff’s Office appears below.

~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter